


Take You Home

by BeccaAnne814



Series: Tony Stark x Reader Oneshots [6]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, Iron Man (Movies), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Cussing, Excessive Drinking, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-09
Updated: 2019-04-09
Packaged: 2020-01-07 03:21:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18402080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BeccaAnne814/pseuds/BeccaAnne814
Summary: Tony Stark is a regular at your bar, but when he comes in one night looking a little worse for wear, you decide you can't sit back and watch him drink himself to death any longer.





	Take You Home

YN knew the moment he walked through the door.  The usual crowd of drunks she catered to would normally be cheering raucously as they welcomed the superhero into their midst. . .

But not tonight.

Tonight she could've heard a pin drop when Tony pushed open the door of The Wayward Son.  He'd first come in because of the name, but he'd stayed because like everyone else in the bar—he was a drunk.  Tony had confessed to her one night when he'd had a few too many whiskeys that he always thought Kansas' hit song had been written with him in mind, so when YN turned around and saw his bruised and battered face, she wondered for a moment if he'd been right all along.

The fight at the airport in Germany had been all over the news, but she'd had no idea how much of a beating he'd taken fighting his friends.  If you could even call them that, anymore.  Who did that to someone they were supposed to care about?

She ignored the hushed whispers of her regulars and poured Tony a whiskey before grabbing a towel and filling it with ice.  

"Here," she said as she slid the drink toward him with one hand and held out the makeshift ice pack with the other.  "You look like you could both tonight."

"Thanks," he said as he downed the whiskey in one gulp and then took the ice from her.  "Keep 'em coming, kid."

Shaking her head, she poured him another drink.  "You really need to stop calling me that."

He squinted at her with the one eye not currently covered in ice.  "Force of habit.  Sorry, YN."

She wanted to ask what had happened, but she wasn't sure if he was ready to talk.  Most nights when he came in here it was to get away from his problems, but something about his demeanor this night made her think otherwise.  As he downed the second whiskey in the same manner as the first, she figured if he wanted to talk, he'd have to do it quickly or else he'd be too drunk to put two words together.

"How's the other guy look?" she asked, hoping her teasing tone would help set the mood.

Tony chuckled sardonically before letting out a deep sigh.  "I doubt I damaged that perfect face, but his friend. . .well, let's just say he won't be able to tie his shoes by himself."

YN gave him a confused look.

"I kinda blew off his arm," he clarified with a shrug.

"I'm sorry, you did what?"

Tony waved away her concern.  "It was a titanium prosthetic.  Although from the look on that asshole's face it was just as painful as when he lost the real one back in '44."

She was still confused.  "Forty-four?  Like 1944?  You blew off an octogenarian's prosthetic arm?  What the hell, Tony?"

"He killed my mom," he said as he grabbed the bottle of whiskey from her and poured himself another glass.  "And he's in his nineties.  So, not an octogenarian."

"Well, shit."  She was speechless for a moment as she tried to process all of this information.  When she thought she finally had a grasp of what was going on, she gave him a hard look.  "Why didn't you blow off the other one?"

Tony laughed—genuinely laughed—for the first time in what felt like years.  He looked like hell and felt like death warmed over, but YN always managed to make him smile.  He told himself he came to The Wayward Son because it was the closest bar to the Compound, but that was a lie.

It was her.

After Pepper had left him, he'd needed to get out of the place she'd helped him design—too many memories were tied up with her there.  He'd stumbled upon the dive bar and the name had drawn him in.  But she'd been the reason he kept coming back.

As he looked at her through the blurry vision of his one good eye, he wondered what she really thought of him.  Was he just another drunk she had to entertain, or could she see past the alcoholic façade to the man he wanted to be?

Cursing himself for getting philosophical, he poured another drink and downed it quickly.  He'd come here to forget about his problems, not add to them.

One of the other men at the bar motioned for a refill, so YN left Tony with the bottle of whiskey and headed to the other end of the bar.  It probably wasn't a good idea to let him have the entire bottle—he needed it like a drowning man needed a glass of water.  But it wasn't her call—she just got paid to serve the drinks and listen to the sob stories.

Her regulars demanded a bit of her time, and she knew she owed it to them since that was technically her job, but when she turned back to Tony and saw that the entire bottle of whiskey was empty, she cursed herself for not keeping a closer eye on him.  If the customers wanted to get drunk, that was on them, but it was her job to make sure they didn't get alcohol poisoning in the process.

She took the empty bottle and his glass away.  "That's enough, don't you think?"

The ice had long ago melted, so she took the soppy towel and threw it in the bin under the bar.  The swelling around his eye looked a bit better, but it would be a long time before the bruises faded.  As she looked into his amber colored eyes, she saw the pupils blown wide open with drunkenness.

"I'm fine," he slurred as he struggled to stay upright.  "Give me another one, kid."

She ignored his request as she walked around the bar and wrapped one of his arms over her shoulder.  Guiding him off the stool, she led him to one of the booths in the back.  The moment she sat him down, he toppled over onto his side and began snoring softly.  Making sure his face was positioned so he wouldn't choke on his own vomit, she shook her head and sighed heavily.  She'd never seen him get this bad before and she'd been witness to the drunken binge he'd gone on when Pepper had left him.  

Going back to the bar, she kept one eye on him as she finished waiting on the rest of the guys.  Closing time was fast approaching and she was ready to get rid of everyone so she could clean up and go home.

When she'd finally locked the door behind the last customer, she let out a long breath and flipped on the lights.  The harsh glare of the overhead fluorescents blinded her for a moment, but it helped her see the spills that needed taken care of before she left for the night.

She was just about finished wiping down the bar when she heard Tony start to rouse.  "You okay over there?"

He groaned as he sat up.  "I'm still alive. . .I think."

"Give me a second.  I'm almost done."  She threw the towel in the bin and opened the safe under the bar to retrieve her things.

"I should go," he said as he staggered to his feet and began stumbling toward the door.

**"Wait, let me take you home."**

He waved off her offer and continued on his way.

Her tone turned lethal.  "Tony Stark, I will not let you get behind the wheel of a car right now."  She walked over to him and held out her hand.  "Give me the keys."  When he didn't heed her request, she wiggled her fingers and demanded again.  "Right now, mister."

Knowing that she could beat his ass with one hand tied behind her back, he begrudgingly handed over the keys.  He wanted to shrug off the arm that she'd wrapped around his back, but he realized once they'd gotten to the gravel parking lot that he'd most likely lose his balance without her.

"What about your car?" he asked after she'd deposited him in the passenger seat and walked around the car to slide behind the wheel.

"It'll be fine," she said as she studied the elaborate dashboard in front of her.  

He pointed to a button by the steering wheel when he noticed her confusion.  "Keyless starter."

She pushed the button and the engine roared to life.  As she put it into gear and started out of the parking lot, she thought to herself that this car probably cost more than she'd made in the past ten years.

"How do I get to the Compound?"

"Head North on Rt. 9W and then turn onto Parker Avenue," a lilting Irish voice answered.

"What the hell?" YN said as her eyes grew large.

"Say hello to YN, FRIDAY," Tony said.

"Hello, YN," FRIDAY said obediently.  "I'm Mr. Stark's personal AI."

YN's mouth was still gaped open, but she pulled herself together and answered the computerized voice as she turned onto the highway.  "Hello, FRIDAY."

"Parker Avenue will be on your right in one point five miles," FRIDAY instructed.  "You'll follow Parker Avenue for five miles before turning left onto Lamont Landing.  From there, you can't miss the Compound."

"So, it's like a GPS?" YN asked Tony.  When he didn't answer, she looked over and saw him passed out against the window.  Glancing up at the roof of the car, she said, "I guess it's just you and me, FRIDAY."

"Don't worry, YN, I'll get you and the boss home."

YN followed FRIDAY's directions even though it looked like the AI was taking her out to the middle of nowhere.  She rounded a turn and all at once the Compound came into view.  She wasn't sure what she'd been expecting, but it wasn't the sprawling estate that lay before her.  

Parking the car where the AI instructed, she went around to the passenger side and shook Tony awake.  "I can't carry you upstairs, and while I'm sure that FRIDAY is brilliant, I doubt a computer program will be much help right now, either."

He went to rub his face and grimaced when he touched the bruise around his eye.  "Ow."

"C'mon," she said as she put his arm over her shoulder again and helped him to his feet.  "Let's get you to bed."

Tony gave her directions to the elevator that would take them straight to his rooms, and YN tried not to be surprised at the elaborate suite he called home.  From the brief glimpse she saw as she led him to the bed, she was almost positive her entire apartment could fit inside his bathroom.

He rolled onto his back and she quickly grabbed his shoulder to turn him over onto his side.  "Uh-uh, mister.  You're too drunk to sleep on your back."

Cracking open an eyelid, he looked up at her.  "Are you leaving?"

"I need to go home, Tony.  It's late."

"I don't want to be alone," he said softly as he closed his eye to avoid looking at her.

Her heart broke for him, and she was torn about what to do.  A part of her wanted to keep their relationship as it always had been—bartender and customer—but another part of her wanted to be the friend he so desperately needed.

In the end, her heart won out and she went searching for something to sleep in.  Rummaging through his closet, she found an old Black Sabbath tee and some sweatpants that looked like they might fit. 

By the time she headed back to the bedroom, he was sound asleep again.  There was a good possibility he'd wake up in the morning and have no idea why she was there, but she'd deal with that later.  Right now she was tired and his bed looked extremely comfortable.

**Author's Note:**

> _Thank you for reading this story!  I hope you enjoyed it!  I wrote this Oneshot for a challenge on Tumblr. . .you might have noticed the prompt bolded there in the middle. . .but I thought I would share it with you guys as well.  You know how much I love my angsty Tony, so when I read that prompt, I knew exactly what story I wanted to tell.  I went back and forth on whether or not I should make it more of a romance, but I guess I'm too much of a Pepperony shipper these days.  What did you guys think?  Friends or lovers?  I doubt this will get a second part, so it's up to you to decide what happens next for these two. I look forward to your comment!_


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